Fabula
by sekific
Summary: Niou wants a story, so Yagyuu improvises.


"Should I quiz you on the atomic weights?"

"No, I'm done."

Yagyuu glanced across the table to where Niou was lying on the tatami, using the floor cushion as a pillow. His knees were bent and his feet planted solidly, a shoulder-width apart; his arms were splayed out to either side. Niou was well on his way to perfecting the art of taking up as much room as possible.

Last time Yagyuu'd looked, Niou'd been revising for their upcoming Chemistry test. That had been about three minutes ago, but now Niou's eyes were fixed on the ceiling instead. The textbook was on the floor beside him, abandoned.

"You might want to actually look at the material, Niou-kun. We are supposed to be studying."

"Yeah." Niou didn't move. "I'm done with it, tonight. Tell me a story?"

Yagyuu frowned. "What kind of story?"

"I don't care. Read aloud if you like." Niou scratched at his leg, idly, and Yagyuu managed to resist the urge to follow the motion. Niou'd thrown his spare sports kit on after practise, and the shorts meant that Yagyuu kept getting rather an eyeful of Niou's upper thighs whenever Niou shifted. The fact that Yagyuu kept finding it hard not to sneak looks was putting him in a bad mood.

Yagyuu didn't want to be attracted to Niou. It was inconvenient and made no logical sense to him. Unfortunately, he didn't appear to have been consulted; his brain would just quietly deliver the impulse to kiss Niou or to put his hand on portions of exposed skin or to just stare. His conscious brain didn't seem to be involved.

He turned a page in his textbook uncertainly. They were ahead on the material; he could indulge Niou, he supposed. Certainly he'd done stranger things at Niou's request.

"Not schoolwork," added Niou, and he closed his eyes. "Actually, you know what, just make something up. A fairytale."

Yagyuu cleared his throat. "A fairytale. Well." He thought for a moment. "A long time ago, far far away, there was a… princess."

"So inventive," murmured Niou, grinning, his eyes still closed.

"Do you want me to continue with this or not?"

"Yes, okay, keep going."

"The princess was very lonely, and not all that pretty. She lived alone in a beautiful castle," Yagyuu said, and paused, trying to remember how fairytales went. "She was well-supplied for food and belongings by her subjects, but they did not dare to linger in the royal presence. It was not their place without an invitation, and she grew up thinking that she could not ask them for company. She longed for friends to come into her life, and, when she was older, she longed for a certain kind of friend. A prince, because she had read about love in her books and decided that that was the best sort of friend."

"Mm," said Niou. It was neither approval or disapproval, but Yagyuu supposed it showed he was listening.

"Every evening she wished on the first star she could see. And one day, finally, when she was a young woman, her wish was granted - a prince arrived at her castle, handsome and charming."

Niou rolled over onto his front, and pursed his lips cynically. "I bet she banged him."

Yagyuu raised an eyebrow in mute rebuke, and Niou grinned and closed his eyes again.

"She hadn't learned to mistrust handsome, charming men, and so when he told her he loved her, she believed him. Nobody'd ever taught her about people who would lie to gain access to hearts or bodies. They spent the nights on silken sheets, and when her belly began to swell she was startled to find that, one morning, her prince had left abruptly. She expected that he would return, but after a week passed, then two, she had to accept that her lover had abandoned her."

"Bastard," muttered Niou.

"She was trusting, but not stupid. She understood that she had made a new life, and made what preparations she could, and wished on her star every night for help." Yagyuu bit his lip, thoughtfully. "And again, her wish was granted; her wish was overheard by someone delivering food to the castle and a peasant girl was sent to be her midwife. The peasant girl arrived just in time; the princess went into labour a matter of hours after her arrival."

He glanced over at Niou, who was lying on his back again, silent, his eyes closed, brow furrowed as if thinking.

"The princess gave birth to a beautiful boy," Yagyuu said. He wasn't really sure where the words were coming from, but it didn't matter. "The peasant girl remained, to help with the child, always protesting that she would have to leave, that she was not company fit for a royal lady. She sang to the child, songs the princess had never heard, and taught her simple village skills. The princess had never cooked for pleasure before, had never sewn or mended clothes. And in return, she taught the peasant girl other things; history, literature, music, art. They became friends, of a sort.

"Several years passed this way, with the peasant girl protesting that she would have to leave soon, that she should not impose on the princess's presence. The princess and the young princeling grew accustomed to the protests, and the princess grew adept at inventing reasons for the peasant girl to stay, for her to remain another month. It was wonderful to not be lonely, and to have someone to talk with."

Niou opened his eyes, and said, slowly, "...go on."

Yagyuu took his glasses off, setting them down on the table. "Three years after the birth of her son, the peasant girl was teaching the princeling a children's song in the kitchen. The princess came to the door, and watched for a moment, suffused with love for them both. And then she realised: she had fallen in love with the peasant girl. Only what could she do? The peasant girl kept claiming she would leave soon, and perhaps an admission of love would be the final straw, the thing that would drive her away."

He paused, unsure what he wanted to do with the story next.

"Eventually," murmured Niou, in a reasonable approximation of Yagyuu's voice, "she could stand it no longer, and confessed."

Yagyuu frowned. That wasn't what he'd planned. "But the peasant girl was horrified by the admission, and fled the castle. A week passed, and the princess lost hope. She grew sad, and thin, and devoted herself wholly to the care of her son."

Niou's eyes were fixed on the ceiling, but his voice was firm - and his own, now, not Yagyuu's. "But the peasant girl had not fled forever. She had needed time, perhaps, to accept her own feelings. And soon, she returned to the castle to confess her love, for she too had fallen in love."

"Hm." That was too easy, thought Yagyuu. "But when the peasant girl returned, the princess's heart had hardened against her. Twice she had fallen in love and twice she had been abandoned. She told the peasant girl to leave."

Niou scowled, and pouted. "Heartbroken, the peasant girl went to bid a final farewell to the princeling, who she loved as her own."

Yagyuu tipped his head to one side, waiting.

"The princeling, delighted to see her again, asked her to sing to him," said Niou, quietly, after a moment had passed and Yagyuu hadn't spoken. "The princess stood outside, and listened. The peasant girl sang to the princeling about her love for the princess and the princeling, about how she had feared being unworthy of the love she had been offered. And the princess… relented, and understood."

Yagyuu reclaimed his glasses. "And I suppose they lived happily ever after? I thought you wanted me to tell the story."

"I did. I just don't want the morbid ending you'll give it." Niou grinned at Yagyuu, not even a hint of apology on his face. "But you tell good stories, and I really like listening to your voice."

Yagyuu didn't really know how to react to that. "Oh."

"So are you the princess? If there's a real prince who ran off on you, I'll have to kick his ass."

"It's just a story, Niou-kun."

"Ah. Shame. I was, well, I was kinda hoping to be the peasant girl."

Yagyuu stared at Niou - still sprawled out, still smiling, but with eyes that were somehow completely unreadable - and coughed. "Were you? That's unexpected."

Niou tipped his head to one side. "Well, not literally. No kids. And hopefully without the bit where I run off and you get in a snit about it."

"If I had been telling the whole story myself," said Yagyuu carefully, folding his hands together in his lap, "I wouldn't have had the princess confess. The peasant girl had given no indication of returning that interest."

Niou's eyes narrowed, and then he stared fixedly at the ceiling again. "Well. Let me suggest this instead: perhaps the peasant girl noticed the attention. Perhaps she saw the little glances and the way the princess's eyes drifted down to her legs or to her mouth or to her ass, and figured out what it meant. And perhaps, when she'd first realised, she'd freaked the fuck out to herself, because this friendship was important, and her friend wanted more than she thought she could give."

"Niou-kun-"

"And then perhaps - in this other version - it eventually dawned on her that her friend wasn't going to push it, was content to just look from a distance, to stare at her but never touch. And then after a while it got to her: she couldn't stop thinking about it, kept hoping to provoke her princess into forgetting herself and making a goddamned move because... her friend was probably about perfect for her, really. And so, yeah, it was scary. But still exactly what she wanted."

"Oh."

Niou sat up, and glared at him. "Fuck it. I mean, look, it's not one-sided, okay? It's reciprocated."

Yagyuu looked down at his hands. "It doesn't have to mean we do anything about it."

"Is there a reason not to?"

Yagyuu glanced up; Niou's gaze was very direct. "Niou-kun, you know why."

"No, I don't think I do. Honestly, I'd kinda like to try kissing you right now. The door's locked. It's your call."

"I'm a boy."

"I noticed. Freaked out already, past it, come on."

Yagyuu stared at Niou, and then sighed. "Alright. Kiss me, then."

"You know, I'd imagined this going a bit more spontaneously," said Niou in a slightly resentful tone, but he shuffled sideways around the table until he was next to Yagyuu. "Uh. Close your eyes?"

Yagyuu did, and felt Niou lift his glasses off his face a few moments later. Then - and it was startling, even though he was expecting it - lips pressed against his, softly. A hand came up to his shoulder, pulling him closer, as if Niou wanted to make sure he couldn't bolt.

The kiss lasted quite a while - complete with a sense of haziness that clouded everything but Niou and the way his lips and tongue felt against Yagyuu's - and Yagyuu's arms were both draped over Niou's shoulders when Niou eventually pulled away.

"You kiss like a girl," Niou said, looking as though this thought was the most amusing realisation he'd ever had.

"So do you," said Yagyuu reflexively, and then he thought about his story and the princess and the peasant girl and smiled, delighted. "Is that a problem?"

"Not even slightly."


End file.
